in my perspective, water was never considered a scarce resource. however, recently i've been force to second guess my original thought.  water is essential to our development and the control that some industry have over it is unbelieveable.  the thought of a handful of entities controlling something vital to our existence should frighten us.  to think of the power in water, ouch! a more decentralized approach may be appropriate with regards to water regulation.
erik gomezcsu sacramento